AN EAST END WEDDING KNEES-UP!
Soap star Laurie Brett gets wed… and not to Ian this time
Soon-to-be-weds, listen up: hiring a classic car or a Katie Price-preferred horse-drawn carriage is so passé. These days, the only way to travel to your big day is by public transport – not least because of all the traffic you bypass down the bus lanes.
Laurie Brett, otherwise known as Eastenders’ Jane Beale, showed all other brides how it’s done last week, as she hitched a ride on the number 19 to get, uh, hitched. OK, so it was a private bus, and she was surrounded by her friends and family, but by all accounts, it was a proper hale and hearty (that’s party, for Cockney rhyming novices).
The actress, who got married twice to unlikely serial seducer Ian Beale on the popular soap, surprised fans by tying the knot with fiancé Dennis Longman in an intimate wedding attended by her former co-stars Letitia Dean and Tamzin Outhwaite. The wedding party congregated in Islington, London, for the civil ceremony, before hopping on a ribbonstrewn bus to a local pub steak house. And while Laurie remained tightlipped on social media, after teasing fans with the earlier tweet, “Roll on the weekend… have it large,” Tamzin was kind enough to share titbits from the big day with us, including a picture of the bride and groom smooching.
While Laurie, 49, has had a chequered on-screen marital past, her real-life romances have also been rocky. Formerly married to John Milroy, who is father to her sevenyear-old daughter Erin, she was previously engaged to musician Dave Evans – but they broke up before the wedding in 2007. But the star didn’t let the past dampen her spirits as she braved the cold, puffing on a ciggy with bouquet in hand (while new husband Dennis preferred a cheeky vape), then heading into the pub for cake and celebrations. Her guests looked just as happy, with Letitia dutifully carrying the bride’s furry white shawl following the “I dos” and braving some thigh-high boots. Evidently, the celebrants took their remit to “have it large” seriously, with candid snaps showing them knocking back booze, before Tamzin shared a picture of her hangover-easing breakfast sarnie the following morning.
All in all, it was a corker. In an era when it’s more than normal to go extra for your big day, there’s something really delightful about keeping it simple, jumping on an uncle Gus and having a knees up. Nice job, Laurie. n